Museveni visits Makindye barracks where police officers Nixon, Aguma are detained

As part of his countrywide tour of the various army installations, President Museveni, who is also the commander in chief of the armed forces has visited Makindye military police barracks.

The facility is where various senior police officers who are battling  several charges related to kidnap and repatriation of Rwandan refugees back to Kigali before the General Court Martial are detained .

Speaking to soldiers, Museveni lashed out to some sections of the media that he says are only bent at portraying the country’s economic performance negatively.

Museveni assured the soldiers that the economy is going to grow faster despite some of the bottlenecks still impinging it.

“Let us consolidate here and produce more patriots. The economy is going to grow faster and faster. Daily Monitor doesn’t know that we shall succeed because we know what we are doing,” Museveni told soldiers of the Military Police Brigade at their headquarters in Makindye Division in Kampala.

Gen. Museveni urged senior officers to internalise the four basic principles of a liberation army which he said make up the UPDF and asked them to explain those principles to their juniors so as to avoid dangerous mistakes made by the traditional, colonial and post -colonial armies.

He spelt out the four principles as Patriotism, Pan-Africanism, Social Economic Transformation and Democracy.

“You officers are supposed to be the priests of the four cardinal principles of the liberation army and explain the gospel (principles) to your juniors,” he emphasised.

He informed the officers that the traditional armies of kings were tribal, anti-people, believed in superstition and were ignorant about science and this he said led to their easy defeat.

Museveni also noted that the colonial army had only one mission of economically exploiting the people of Uganda by making them grow cotton and coffee, among others, whose value addition was undertaken abroad thereby making Ugandans lose both jobs and wealth.

He advised the officers to read extensively and be knowledgeable about people’s needs that are hinged on such development programs like wealth creation and socio-economic transformation that must form their mission.

Gen. Museveni pledged Shs.100 million towards supporting soldiers’ spouses’ Sacco with a view to boosting the income generating activities of the spouses of soldiers.

Museveni was accompanied by the Chief of the Defence Forces, Gen. David Muhoozi, the Commander of Land Forces, Lt. Gen. Peter Elwelu and Special Presidential Advisor on Defence and Security, Lt. Gen. Proscovia Nalweyiso among other senior army officers.